Pirates
can't hold lead against KendrickThe Prairie football team jumped out to a 12-0 lead with 5:48 left
in the first quarter but the rest of the game belonged to Kendrick as the
Pirates fell to the Tigers 12-28 at Cottonwood Friday, Sept. 22.Prairie had the ball first as Kyle Daly recovered an onside kick attempt
at the Prairie 42.
The Pirates took 10 plays to go the 58 yards for the opening score
with Danny Riener carrying the final 5 yards for the score. The conversion
try was stopped short of the goal line.
Prairie tried their own short kickoff play but were called for being
offsides. On the rekick they went deep with Kendrick taking over at their
33.
Kendrick picked up a first down but on a second and short play following,
J.D. Riener forced the ball loose from Kendrick’s Ben Warner with Corey
Schaeffer making the recovery at the Prairie 43.
On the next play Danny Riener got around the left end on a sweep and
outraced the defenders all the way to the goal line for a 57 yard scoring
play. The conversion try failed again with Prairie holding a 12-0 lead.
The kickoff went out of bounds at the Kendrick 29 with Kendrick taking
over by rule at the 35.
The Tigers pushed downfield and scored 9 plays later to cut the lead
to 12-6. The touchdown came on a fourth and goal pass play from the 4.
Prairie was able to overcome a holding penalty on their next possession
when Tyler Forsmann battled a pair of defenders to come down a pass for
a 25 yard gain on second and 23.
Prairie stalled out there though and punted from the Kendrick 33. The
ball rolled dead at the 1 yard line.
Kendrick
took over and proceeded to make a methodical march downfield sprinkling
in short passes with running plays to go the full 99 yards in 20 plays
to tie the score. On the drive they converted 3 times on third down and
once on fourth. The fourth down conversion came after Forsmann and Schaeffer
had sacked quarterback Rex Ireland on a first down play for an 8 yard loss.
The Tigers picked up 6 yards on a run, 9 yards on a screen pass and 12
yards on fourth and 3 on another pass.
On Prairie’s next possession the Pirates picked up a couple of first
downs but the drive stalled in large part due to a pair of 5 yard penalties
near midfield.
The Pirates punted and the half ended before Kendrick could mount a
scoring drive.
Kendrick took the second half kickoff and marched downfield for the
go-ahead score.
The scoring play came on a third and 21 from the Prairie 28 with a
holding penalty accounting for the lost yardage.
Everyone at the field except the referees saw Kendrick’s Chase Christopher
push Jake Holthaus in the back to create room for him to catch the deep
pass over the middle from Warner fullback option pass play. What should’ve
been offensive pass interference became the go-ahead touchdown. Ireland
added the 2-pointer to make it 12-20.
Prairie couldn’t answer back and when Jake Holthaus couldn’t come up
with the snap on a punting play, Kendrick wound up taking over at the Prairie
31.
Seven plays later the Tigers added another touchdown.An interception stopped Prairie’s next possession but Kendrick fumbled
the ball back on a third and 2 from the 4 yard line with Kyle Daly recovering
at the 7 yard line.
Prairie again was forced to punt when an illegal block erased what
would’ve been a 10 yard gain for a first down on a reverse by David Sigler.
Kendrick then was able to grind out the clock as they held the ball
for the final 13 plays. They pushed down to the 1 but were called for delay
of game. After that they elected to just have Ireland drop to a knee on
3 straight plays to run out the clock.
The Pirates gained 169 yards in the first half but were completely
shut down in the second half as they had the ball for only 12 plays for
a net minus 7 yards and no first downs.
Riener led the offense with 143 yards rushing on 19 carries but had
only 14 of those in the second half. Ryan Daly added 13 yards on 7 carries.
Kyle Holthaus completed 2 of 9 passes with an interception for 33 yards.
Forsmann caught 1 pass for 25 yards and Ryan Daly caught the other for
an 8 yard gain.
Kendrick rolled up 382 yards of offense, 300 on the ground on 67 rushing
plays. 145 lbs. junior Adison Mortenson had the bulk of the carries and
yardage as he gained 195 yards on 39 carries. Ireland added 54 yards on
13 carries and Warner had 51 yards on 15 carries.
Ireland completed 6 of 9 passes for 54 yards while Warner was 1 for
1 for 28 yards.
David Sigler led the defense in tackles with 13 with Danny Riener adding
11½ and Kyle Daly 10 including a fumble recovery. Schaeffer had
7½ including a fumble recovery and half sack. Ryan Daly and Branden
Waller had 7½ each. Jake Holthaus had 6½. Forsmann had 3½
including a half sack. Nate Kaschmitter had 3 and Daniel Sigler had a ½
tackle.
With the loss Prairie drops to 3-2 on the season, 2-2 in White Pine
League play.
They have this coming Friday off and get back into action Friday, October
6 at Nezperce against Lewis County at 3 p.m.
Kendrick 6 6 16 0 -28
Prairie 12 0 0 0 -12
P-Riener 5 run (run failed)P-Riener 57 run (pass failed)K-Christopher 4 pass from Ireland (run failed)K-Warner 7 run (run failed)K-Christopher 28 pass from Warner (Ireland run)K-Mortenson 3 run (Ireland run)